The Courageous and the Cunning
by cottoncandylover11
Summary: “Beautiful girls should not waste their time crying on staircases,” a voice from behind her said. Hermione turned around only to glare at the voice’s owner. The untold love story of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. Some strong language.
1. Granger Danger

**A/N: My first Draco/Hermione fic. It starts after the Yule Ball and I've yet to decide how far to take it. Please Read and Review**

I feel like my eyes have been transfigured

something deep inside has changed

they've been open wide, but hold that trigger

this could mean. Danger

"Next time there is a ball, pluck up the courage to ask me before somebody else does and not as a last resort."

"Well, that's completely off the point. Isn't it Harry?"

"Where have you been? Never mind, off to bed both of you."

"They get scary when they get older."

"Ron, you've spoiled everything!" Hermione screamed after the boys. She then sat down and buried her hands in her face.

"Beautiful girls should not waste their time crying on staircases," a voice from behind her said. Hermione turned around only to glare at the voice's owner.

"Oh go away Malfoy, My night has been bad enough without you insulting me."

"Does your hair block your ears Granger? I believe I paid you a compliment." Draco Malfoy drawled. Hermione stood up and began to storm up the staircase. "Granger! Where are you going? Come back here." He began to run after her. When he caught her, he pulled her behind a tapestry. "So what happened? Boyfriend broke up with you? Or was it Weasel? Could it have been Potty?"

"Oh leave me alone Malfoy." She started to leave but Draco caught her arm and pulled her back. "Let me go!" Hermione reached for her wand but Draco was quicker. Her wand flew out of her hand and into Draco's. "Come now, give that back." Hermione started toward him.

"Impedimenta. No, no, no, first tell me what is wrong with you." Draco tucked both wands into the pocket of his dress robe.

"Why in hell do you care? You've always thought of me as a waste of space and now you expect me to believe that suddenly my emotions matter to you? Just give me my wand and shove off."

"Does it even occur to you that if I didn't care, I wouldn't be wasting my time here? Now tell me what bloody idiot made you cry."

"It was Ron, technically. He confronted me about Victor and we got in a fight. Happy now, let me go."

"Alright. Here's your wand." Draco muttered an unfreezing charm. "Granger, you cannot go back to your dorm tonight, wasn't one of your roommates Weasel's date?"

"That is none of your concern. And it was her sister anyway."

"You still shouldn't go back there. You deserve a room to yourself tonight."

"And where am I going to get that?"

"I know a place." Draco began to go the passage he had earlier pulled Hermione into. When she hesitated to follow he laughed and said, "Come now, its after hours anyway, you can't just walk out of here, you'll get caught."

"Fine." Hermione followed him crossly. They finally emerged across from an empty brick wall. "Where are we?" Draco walked toward the wall and began pacing.

"The seventh floor. I believe the Gryffindor dorms are just around the left corner. I for one was thinking that you could stay somewhere else." Hermione looked at him. A door had appeared on the wall.

"What on Earth, that wasn't there before, how did you do that?" Hermione walked forward, her curiosity had taken over.

"This is the Room of Requirement. It will give you anything and everything you need. All you have to do is pace back and forth three times and think specifically about what you require. Are you hungry?" They were now in the room with a couch and a flat screen muggle tv. Hermione scowled, the room was decorated in green and silver with a black couch and a muggle flat screen tv.

"A little," she answered. Draco led her into a kitchen. Her expression softened. This room was more smartly decorated. The walls were painted a deep scarlet and the table was a dark wood with golden rims. She glanced at Draco; his expression had changed from the full grin in the first room to a half scowl but lightened when he caught her looking.

"Alright. Squeaky." Draco snapped his fingers and a house-elf appeared. "Come sit here. That is the one flaw; the room can't produce food. I think it's because of The Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law Elemental Transfiguration. That's…"

"The law of wizarding physics which states magic has the power to create or destroy matter. The principal exceptions to the law are food, money, cures to dark magic, bringing humans back from the dead, and love. I know." A plate was set down in front of her. "Thank you."

The house-elf almost tripped over herself as she bowed. "Of course miss, I live to serve Master Malfoy and his friends. No thanks needed." She squeaked. "I should kiss the feet of one so nice to Squeaky."

"No, Squeaky, please…"

"Squeaky, that will be all. Be gone." With a crack, Squeaky dispparated. Draco sat down across from Hermione. "Go on, tuck in." Hermione just sat and stared at him. "What is the matter now?"

"How can you stand that? It's positively retched. To have the poor creature wait on you and be treated so poorly that she wished to kiss my feet when I say thank you! It just isn't right. How am I supposed to campaign for SPEW during the day and allow an elf to wait on me at night?"

"What is SPEW?"

"The Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare."

"Hermione, she's a house-elf. It's her job to wait on me and I dare say she enjoys it. Now, are you going to let all of her hard work go to waste or are you going to eat your lasagna?" Hermione frowned but began to eat nevertheless. "Perhaps having her bring us our food wasn't wise. I forgot that you're…" He trailed off and looked down.

"That I'm what? You can say it. You've never stopped yourself before."

"I was simply going to say that you're muggle-born and haven't grown up with a house-elf. Be kind to me Hermione, I find it best to try to fit in with my peers and old habits certainly do die hard."

"Well, it probably was stupid to bring her here anyway. When your parents question were she has been, she will certainly tell them everything."

"Don't worry about that, she is my house-elf, a gift at the end of last year. She stays here and has orders to tell nobody of my business. Including my mother and father." Draco had finished his plate and waved it gone with his wand. "Are you finished?" Hermione nodded and he did the same to hers. "There is a muggle tele in here, would you like to watch it or simply go to bed?"

"I don't know. I'm not very tired any more. What are you watching?"

"Friends. It's an American show."

"I know, I think I will." They moved into a room with a wide-screen television and a couch. Before sitting down, Hermione hesitated. She was still in her dress. "I don't think this will work. I have no other clothes."

"Go into that room. There should be a dresser full of clothing." Hermione went into the other room, picked out a shirt and a pair of sweats. She went into the bathroom to change. When she came out, Draco was sitting on the couch and he had changed out of his dress-robes. "Come on, the show is starting." Although she began by sitting as far away as possible from him, halfway through the show, Hermione's head was resting on Draco's shoulder. When it had finished, she turned her face up to him. He lifted her chin and leaned in. Their lips met for a brief second then he pulled away. Hermione yawned. "Perhaps it is time for bed. You can have the bed in the other room. I'll sleep on the couch."

"Are you sure? I can sleep on the couch."

"No, I brought you here so you could have a private bed. Goodnight Hermione." She leaned in and pecked his lips.

"Goodnight Draco."

Hermione looked around the room she had entered. It was smartly decorated. The carpet was golden and the walls had a crimson paint. In the middle of the room was a large canopy bed that was donned with a crimson comforter and golden drapes. Hermione laughed. _No wonder Draco didn't want this room,_ Hermione thought. She flopped onto the bed._ Fuck. What the hell am I doing. I should have walked away as soon as he unfroze me or at the very least when I found out I was around the corner from the common room I should have left. __**But he was so sweet tonight.**__ Damn it! Get a hold of yourself. He's a Slytherin and his father is a Death Eater.__** I know. What am I going to do?**__ I'll talk to him tomorrow. I can explain that I feel nothing for him. __** But I do. I think.**__ Doesn't matter. He'll never feel that way. He's a Slytherin._

Draco waited for her to leave the room and he transformed the couch into a bed. _What am I doing? I should have just left her on the stairs. She's a fucking muggleborn. What will my parents think? They'll kill me and bring me back to clean up the mess. __**I don't care.**__ She's never going to return my feelings, the only reason she didn't hex me to death is because I had her wand. __**She didn't hex me when I gave it back. **__She thinks I'm a pig-headed git. __**Well I haven't done much to prove her wrong. Maybe I could just show her.**__ Like she would ever give me a chance. __**She came here tonight.**_

Draco woke up at eight the next morning. "Squeaky." With a crack, the house-elf appeared.

"How may I serve Master Malfoy?" Squeaky asked after bowing so low that her nose touched the ground.

"Squeaky, I want you to bring the ingredients for a breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs up here in addition to whatever it takes to make coffee and a recipe book."

"Master, Squeaky can cook for Master and Master's friend. It is Squeaky's pleasure."

"No, Squeaky, I must do this by myself. Just get the ingredients." With a crack Squeaky disappeared. Just a few minutes later she reappeared with everything that Draco had asked for. She lingered for a few seconds as Draco set the ingredients on the table. "Squeaky, replace the bed in the other room with a couch and return to the Hogwarts kitchen."

With a low bow, Squeaky went into the other room and after a second, she disappeared with a crack. Draco signed and went to work making breakfast for the first time in his life. When Hermione entered the kitchen, she found the place in total disarray. The bacon was burning and the pancake mix was overflowing. "What is going on?" Hermione asked. "What are you doing?"

"I was trying to make breakfast but as you can see it isn't working very well," replied Draco.

Hermione laughed. "And why are you cooking breakfast?"

"I knew that you didn't like Squeaky waiting on us so I thought I would make breakfast."

"I'm sure that Squeaky is glad for the break. That is very thoughtful." Draco rolled his eyes but didn't argue about Squeaky. He tried to clean some of the overflowing batter. "Let me." Hermione flicked her wand and the batter disappeared. She flicked her wand at the bacon and it flew to the trashcan. In another flick, new bacon appeared on the stove and began to cook itself. The eggs cracked themselves over a bowl and soon were scrambling.

"How did you possibly? Silent spells are newt level and they don't even teach cooking spells," Draco said, wowed by Hermione's flawless magic.

"I learned a lot from Mrs. Weasley this summer. I took summer classes on household magic." She moved half the pancakes onto a plate along with some bacon and eggs. "Here, take this to the table." She put the rest of the food on another plate and moved it to the table. She pointed the wand at the coffee pot and poured cups for her and Draco. When they had finished eating, she stood up. "I should go back to the dormitory."

"Wait." He stood and grabbed her wrist. "Don't go just yet." He placed a hand on her cheek and gently turned her head. He kissed her tenderly but she pulled away.

"Draco, what happened last night…"

"I meant what I said. I care about you. If you don't feel the same about me, I understand."

"But I do. Or at least I think I do but how can you like me? After everything you've ever said to me, how can I believe that you care about me at all? How can I…" Hermione was interrupted when Draco pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

"You just have to trust me. You should get back to your dormitory. You've been missing all night and everyone will be wondering what you and Krum were doing."

"Should I tell them where I really was?"

"No! It would put you in more danger than you can imagine. Didn't you see what happened at the Cup? And that was only because they were bored. Imagine what they would do if they found out about us."

"So you think Ron and Harry…"

"Oh, tell Potty and Weasel if you must, I was referring to people like Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil." Draco interpreted.

"Actually, I think it's best not to tell Ron and Harry. They would make so much noise, the entire castle would hear."

"And I want…" Draco stopped. He had a pained look on his face as though he couldn't bear to finish the sentence.

"What?"

"Hermione, I want you to continue to date Victor Krum." Draco's voice shook as he said it and when he finished, he had a look of disgust on his face.

"Why? I like you. I don't want to date anyone else."

"It's complicated. You need to get back to your dorm. Meet me in the passage we took to get here after lunch and I'll explain."

"Alright. It's a date." Hermione gave Draco one last peck on the cheek and left the room.

Falling in love, falling in love, falling in love.

I could be falling in love, falling in love, falling in love

with Hermione Granger.

This could be danger


	2. Ignorance is Bliss

**A/N: First off, I want to thank everybody who reviewed and added this story to their alerts. I plan on updating once a week but updates might slow down later on. Ellesmere, now that I think about it, their relationship is moving really fast but Hermione is in an emotional state and Draco will earn her trust soon enough.**

Ignorance is bliss

"Ron, do you have a problem with me? You've been distant and foul all night. And poor Padma. You ignored her all night. What is wrong with you?" Hermione found Ron walking alone out of the Great Hall and decided to confront him.

"Why are you even worried about me? You should go, Vicky will be worried," Ron spat.

"Maybe I will. What's wrong with Viktor? What did he do to make you dislike him?"

"He's using you."

"Using me? What are you talking about Ron?"

"He just wants to get to Harry. You're his bloody best friend and Vicky…"

"Don't call him that."

"…is one of the other champions," Ron continued, ignoring Hermione's interruption. "He's just trying to figure out the second task. Why else would he…" Ron trailed off

"Why else would he as me to the Yule Ball? Thanks Ronald. And for your information, we've never talked about the tournament."

"He's to old for you," Ron muttered.

"To old for me! I can take care of myself, Ron. I don't need you approving everyone I date. And if you're so worried about who I date, you know the solution, don't you?" At this point, Harry walked out of the Great Hall and saw the two of them standing red in the face and shouting at each other.

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Next time there is a ball, pluck up the courage to ask me before somebody else does and not as a last resort."

"Well, that's completely off the point. Isn't it Harry?" Hermione turned on Harry.

"Where have you been? Never mind, off to bed both of you."

"They get scary when they get older." Ron was still ranting about Hermione when he and Harry got up to the common room. "I mean it's not that I bloody like her, it's just that we're her best friends and you're bloody Harry Potter. People are bound to try to bloody use us to get close to you and she just needs to watch out for those people. Especially now. Does she not realize that Vicky is from bloody Dumstrang and Karrcrof is his headmaster? And that he is a bloody triwizard champion and probably wants to use her to bloody spy on you?" When Harry did not respond, he added, "he's to bloody old for her anyway." Harry bit back the retort about Ron asking Fleur Delecour to the ball and muttered the password to the Fat Lady instead. They walked into the common room and headed up to their room. "And another thing, who in hell does she bloody think she is to tell us to go to bed? Our mother?" Harry shrugged and continued to undress. When he finished, he laid down with his back to Ron. Soon he heard snores coming from the bed next to him and lost himself in his thoughts.

Squeaky returned to the kitchen still crying about Hermione's attitude when she returned to the kitchen. Almost all the house-elves turned away in disappointment. The only two left near Squeaky were Dobby and Winky. "What is the matter with Squeaky? Did Draco Malfoy do something to you? He is a bad boy. Bad Dobby!" Dobby moved to hit himself but held his fist in midair.

"Dobby! He is your master, how can Dobby speak of him so?" Winky demanded. It was the first coherent sentence she had uttered in weeks. All the elves gaped at her for a few seconds. When they recovered, they joined Winky in criticizing Dobby.

"He is not Dobby's master anymore! Dobby has no master. Dobby is a free elf." He shouted in protest. The other house-elves looked at him, shocked. They ushered away Winky and left Dobby and Squeaky on their own. "Squeaky, what happened?"

"Master Malfoy had a a a ggirl. She was nnicce to to Squeaaky. Bad Squeaky!" Squeaky began to run to the wall.

"No Squeaky!" Dobby grabbed the elf around the waist. "What did you do wrong?"

"I told you. Master Malfoy tells me things and I'm not supposed to tell them to others," Squeaky wailed. She struggled against Dobby's grip but could not free herself.

"Drink this, Squeaky, it will help." Dobby grabbed a bottle of Butterbeer and pored it down Squeaky's throat. She relaxed and quieted down. "Tell Dobby about Draco Malfoy's kind friend."

"Master Malfoy called her Granger. She had pretty brown hair and was in a blue dress." Squeaky replied, the alcohol taking affect.

"Granger? Hermione Granger?" Fred Weasley stepped from the shadows followed by his brother.

"Oh bad Squeaky. Squeaky has told a human of her master's affairs." She jumped from Dobby's arms and slammed herself into the wall before Dobby could react. As Dobby tried to stop her, another house-elf scurried over to Fred and George.

"Masters Weasley, we were not expecting you. What would you like?"

"Three dozen cupcakes." Fred said as George reassured Squeaky. The house-elves hurried to bring the cupcakes then ushered the twins out. "Do you reckon that elf was talking about our Hermione?" Fred asked George as they left the kitchen.

"How many other people do you know called Granger with brown hair?"

"I suppose you're right. What would she be doing with Malfoy?"

"Maybe the house-elf heard wrong. Fairy lights." They entered the common room.

"Do you reckon? Oi, Ginny, whereabouts is Hermione? Is she upstairs?" Fred asked Ginny, she was curled into a ball on a sofa.

"I haven't seen her. Why? What are you going to do with those cupcakes?" Ginny replied.

"Nothing to do with you." George answered. The twins turned and headed to their dorm. "So she isn't back. Maybe she is with Malfoy."

"Odd. But let her be, we have more important things to do." The twins turned into the room they shared with Lee Jordan. "Lee, we got the cupcakes. Let's get to work.

Knowledge is power

**A/N: Sorry there isn't very much Hermione and Draco in this one, every once and a while chapters with other characters pop into my head and the story doesn't feel right without them. Please review.**


	3. Dirty Little Secret

**A/N: 7 reviews and all the story alerts. Thank you so much everyone. You all are awesome. Enjoy, you've earned it.**

**Disclaimer: I've written a letter to J.K.R. asking for the rights to Harry Potter. I'm still waiting for a reply. I don't own **_**Dirty Little Secret **_**or **_**Secret**_**. They belong to All American Rejects and Maroon 5.**

I'll keep you my dirty little secret

Tell anyone and you'll be just another regret

(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)

My dirty little secret

Hermione entered the common room and turned to go to her room. "Hermione Jean Granger, where have you been?" Someone demanded from behind her. For a second, Hermione would have bet that Molly Weasley was standing right behind her. She turned to see her best friend standing as a spitting image of her mother. Ginny's hair was a fiercer red than normal when she was angry. The bags under her eyes suggested that she had been waiting up all night.

"Umm, I can explain."

"I should hope so. Merlin damn it, Hermione, I've been up all night waiting for you. It's nine o'clock in the fucking morning, what did you and Krum do all night?"

"I wasn't with Viktor. I'll tell you later. I need you tell everyone that I spent the night in your room with you last night. All of the other girls are home for the holidays, right?"

"Right, Hermione, what's going on? Where were you?"

"Later. Promise?" Hermione glanced toward the boy's staircase; someone was coming down.

"Promise." The twins appeared just as Ginny agreed.

"Hello ladies. Did you have a nice night, Hermione? You weren't here for the most of it." Fred said.

"Yes she was." Ginny replied. "She was in my room."

"Don't lie to us, Ginivera. You told us last night that you hadn't seen her." George said.

"We know anyway." Fred said. "Come upstairs and we'll discuss it." Ginny shot a confused look at Hermione. Hermione shrugged and followed the boys to the girls' staircase. Fred took out his wand and muttered something. He started up the steps with George right behind. Hermione and Ginny just stood and looked at him. "Well come on, our dorm isn't private enough. Ginny's will work just fine." The girls went after him. When they got to the dorm, Hermione turned to the boys.

"Well, what is so important that we cannot discuss it in the common room?"

"Your whereabouts last night. We know you weren't with Ginny, and according to the information we got from the kitchen; you weren't with Krum either."

"What did you hear in the kitchen?" Hermione asked.

"That you spent the night with Draco Malfoy." George answered. Fred shuddered at the sound of Draco's name.

"What? That's ridiculous. Hermione wouldn't be caught dead with that slimy little ferret. Right?" Ginny said. Hermione avoided her gaze. "Mione?" Ginny demanded.

"What do you want?" Hermione turned to the twins. "Money? Favors? What sort of blackmail will it be?"

"MIONE!" Ginny shouted.

"Oh come on now, Hermione, we don't want to blackmail you. We just want to know, why?" George replied. Hermione sighed; she couldn't see a way out of this one.

"Sit down, I'll tell you how it happened and you can tell me how you found out." Hermione explained the entire last night to the three Weasleys. In turn, Fred and George explained what they had heard in the kitchen. "What were the cupcakes for?" Hermione asked. She guessed by the look Fred and George exchanged when they mentioned what they were after that the cupcakes were not to be eaten.

"That, dear Hermione, is none of your business," replied Fred. He and George rose to leave. Once they had shut the door, Ginny turned to Hermione.

"Do you like him?" Ginny asked failing to hide the disgust in her voice.

"I think I might." Hermione muttered.

"Mione! How could you? He's a pureblood and a Slytherin! What the fuck were you thinking even following him? That was the perfect opportunity to curse you."

"I was curious." This sent Ginny over the edge

"CURIOUS? CURIOUS! BLOODY HELL, HERMIONE, I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE CURIOUS, HE HATES MUGGLEBORNS. MERLIN DAMN IT HERMIONE, YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED. HE'S A PUREBLOOD."

"So are you." Hermione snapped. This retort calmed Ginny down a bit.

"That's different, his dad was a Death Eater."

"People aren't always like their parents."

"I don't think the apple falls far from the tree in this case." Ginny looked at her best friend. Hermione had her arms crossed and looked set in her ways. "You aren't going to listen to reason, are you?"

"I'm going to give him a chance. We have a date after lunch today."

"Merlin, Hermione, if you get yourself killed…" Ginny sighed. "I'm coming with you. That way if you're wrong, at least you can have someone there as support."

"Fine." Hermione saw the concern in her friend's face. "Thanks Gin."

Ginny shrugged. "Lets go up to your room. Its almost time for lunch and you don't even have any makeup on." Before Hermione could protest, Ginny had her by the hand and pulled her along. When they reached Hermione's room, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil swarmed.

"Ohhh, Viktor Krum, Hermione, I can't believe that he was your mystery date." Lavender Brown squealed.

"Is that where you were last night?" Parvati asked. "Maybe the good girl isn't quite what we thought."

"No, she spent the night in my room." Ginny responded. The girls' faces fell. "Come on Mione, we have work to do."

"Have to get ready for Krum, Hermione?" Parvati shrieked.

"None of your business," snapped Ginny. She pulled Hermione into the bathroom. "Stupid Parvati. What a stupid name. What could anyone even see in her? She isn't all that pretty and she is such a Lavender Brown copy. Who would want a such giggling, airhead as a date?"

"He did ask you first, Gin." Hermione replied softly. "You turned him down."

"Yeah, but that was after Cho Chang had rejected him. And Ron asked for him. I want to be asked because he likes me, not as a last resort."

"He'll come around, in the meantime, you should get on with your life. Date other people. Then when he's ready, he'll come to you."

"I suppose. There, I'm done." Ginny turned Hermione around to see the mirror. She was wearing a blue blouse and jeans. Ginny was magic with a muggle makeup brush. Hermione's hair was pulled up into a classy ponytail and appeared straighter than usual.

"Wow, Gin, you're amazing."

"I know. Come on, let's go to lunch."

Harry and Ron were already down when the girls reached the table. "Hello Harry, Ron." Hermione greeted. Ron hastily returned her greeting, shocked that she was going to ignore what had happened last night. She sat in her usual position on Harry's right and opened her copy of the Daily Profit.

"Good afternoon Herm-o-ninny." Krum greeted. He kissed her cheek and squeezed himself between Harry and Hermione. She barely glanced up from her paper to smile at him then looked over to the Slytherin table. Draco was staring at her and ignoring Pansy.

"What's wrong with Malfoy?" Harry mused. "He's staring." Hermione shrugged and returned to her paper. While she pretended to read, she peaked over its top and watched Crabbe and Goyle's faces when Draco served his own food. They always did it for him, and looked rather frightened as though they had done something wrong. When Blaise Zambini and Theodore Nott blocked her view, she returned to her paper. The heading on the page caught her eye. She scanned the article.

"Oh now she has really done it!" Exclaimed Hermione. She slammed the paper onto the table. "That retched woman. Look what she's written about Hagrid." The article had a picture of a tall boy and a man about half his size.

"I heard him telling Madame Maxime that he was a half giant, how could she have known?" Harry said. But Hermione wasn't listening to that anymore. Draco had just gotten up. She stood up suddenly. "Where are you going?"

"Library." And with that, Hermione was off with Ginny close on her heels. Krum stood and made to follow.

"I wouldn't go just yet. Sit down and enjoy your lunch." Fred said as he and George walked over to Harry, Ron, and Krum.

"When she's in a study mood, she might hex anyone who gets to close." George added. Krum sat down. "I reckon you saw?" George said, gesturing to the paper. Harry and Ron nodded.

"I never would have guessed. Blimey, I just thought that he had swallowed a bottle of skeleto grow when he was younger." Ron said.

"I guess not." Fred said. "Well, we must be off." He and George left the hall.

"What do you reckon she's going to do?" Harry wondered.

"Probably start a campaign for the Society for the Protection of Ugly Giants. One thing is for sure though; I'm not going to wear a badge that says SPUG on it." Ron said. Everyone laughed except for Krum.

"Vat is vot very vunny." He said. He rose to follow Karkaroff out of the hall.

Hermione went behind the tapestry with Ginny close behind. "What are you doing here, Weaseltte?" Draco drawled, glaring at Ginny.

"Its ok, she knows. She's here to protect me." Hermione replied.

"She knows? You wouldn't tell Potter and Weasley but you told his younger sister? How do you know that she isn't going to tell them everything?"

"She's my female best friend. Why shouldn't she know?" Draco opened his mouth then closed it again and shrugged. "So where are we going?"

"The Room of Requirement, of course. Is Weas, um, Ginny coming with us?"

"Yes I am. I don't trust you, Malfoy."

"Gin." Hermione said softly. "Don't…"

"It probably isn't smart to have your secret dates in the most public passage there is, Hermione." Fred interrupted her. He and George immerged from the corridor.

"Krum was all for following you. We deterred him for a bit." George added. "He was all for a little session in the library. Not that he wanted to do much studying." Draco made a noise of disgust. George turned. "Malfoy, we almost forgot you were here."

"Hermione, didn't I say don't tell anyone?" Draco asked.

"She didn't tell us. We have our own informants. Shall we move to a place of more privacy?" Fred answered. Draco scowled and turned to go up the passage. When they immerged, Fred began pacing in front of the wall. A door appeared just like it did last night. "Shall we?" The twins asked together. The five entered the room. It was no longer the private dorm that it was last night but rather a room with glass walls. The view was of the lake and the floor felt like soft grass. There was a picnic basket on a blanket in the middle of the floor. Fred and George sat down, opened the basket, and served pumpkin juice to everyone.

"I'm sorry Draco, it looks like these three are going to be accompanying us. But tell us, why is me dating Krum so important?" Draco sighed and took a small sip. He began his answer slowly.

"Because your life would be in danger if my family heard of us. And I have to continue dating Pansy, so it's only fair." Draco saw Hermione's question filled look. He sighed and drank some of his pumpkin juice. Seeing the twins exchange a mischievous glance, he put his cup down. It was too late, however, one sip was all it took. "I owe you an explanation. My family is full of purebloods and muggleborn haters. I've been raised to feel the same. For a long time, I didn't have a choice. When I was four, I was playing with some muggle children in the neighborhood below the mansion. My father caught me and dragged me to the house by the ear. There, he used the Cruciatus Curse on me. I never dared to associate with muggle children again. I've swallowed my father's lessons about the hatred of muggles because I feared what he would do if I were to object. He would use Occlemacy on me and if I had any doubts, he would torture me. At the end of every day, he used to quiz me about the lessons he would give. If I didn't answer every question correctly, he would punish me. Eventually, I began to believe him. I suppose if you hear something enough, you start to accept it. Then, last year, when you slapped me, you slapped some sense into me. I can't really explain it but the truth hit me. I suddenly saw what I had become and I didn't like it. I knew that I needed to change and I needed to do it quickly and quietly. I remembered a girl slapping me for calling her a muggle when I was four. I knew that I needed to find her in order to change. I spent the entire summer searching for her only to discover that she had moved seven years ago. I found an old friend of hers and convinced her to give me the girl's new address. I slipped away from my house one day and found the girl. I came across something shocking. The muggle with frizzy brown hair that slapped me when we were four was a witch. And that witch is here, in this room."

Ginny, Fred, and George turned to look at Hermione. Her mouth had fallen open. "You mean, that I'm, I'm, you're the boy who lived on the hill?"

"What?" demanded Ginny.

"When I was younger, I lived in a small town at the bottom of a hill. On the top of the hill was a large mansion that overlooked the entire town. The occupants were never seen, until one day, a little blonde boy emerged. We invited him to play and he told us that he wasn't allowed to play with muggles. I knew by the way he said it that the word was insulting, so I hit him. He seemed to come to his senses after I hit him and agreed to play. He came down every day for a week. Then, his father came down. The man was dressed oddly and had long blonde hair. He grabbed the boy by the ear and pulled him up the hill. We never saw him again. But he said his name was Xavier."

"My middle name. I didn't know how to tell you, Hermione. I need you. With you around, I don't feel evil."

"But this year, you've been so rude."

"I have to act, for both your safety and mine. I did warn you, during the World Cup. I told you to get out of there. And I tried to miss you when I sent that enlarging spell out. You moved to quickly and it hit your teeth. There is one other thing you should know. I have to continue dating Pansy. My parents have chosen her as a proper match. I have to date her because that is what they demand. I love her like a sister and wish that it wasn't like this but when I tried to protest, I was tortured. I cannot stop dating her and I feel that if you keep things going with Krum, it will prevent suspicion."

When Draco had finished this statement, Fred and George rose. "I think we've forced ourselves upon these two long enough, don't you both agree, Fred, Ginny?"

"I certainly agree." Fred responded, the twins looked at Ginny. She showed no sign of agreeing but instead had a rather incredulous look on her face. "Come on, Gin, let's leave the two lovebirds alone." Before she could protest, Fred and George pulled Ginny to her feet and pulled her out of the room. "Be safe," the twins said together, and then they closed the door.

Draco and Hermione watched in confusion as the two older boys dragged a protesting Ginny out of the room. When the door shut and disappeared, Hermione said, "That was strange, why did they insist on coming if they were just going to leave."

"I'm not sure, I didn't think that they were going to believe me." Draco looked into the basket. He pulled out a salad. "There are only two plates in here. Its as though they knew that they were going to leave after I explained myself, but how could they know I was telling the truth?"

"Were you?"

"Of course. Ginny didn't seem to believe it. I wonder why the twins accepted it so quickly." He glanced at his cup. "Unless…"

"What?"

"I think they put something into my drink. I saw them look at each other when I took a sip."

"Give it here." Hermione took the cup and brought it to her nose. She inhaled deeply for a few seconds and compared the smell and look to that of her own drink. "I think they put veritaserum in your cup. But I need you to lie to be sure. What color is your hair?"

"Bro…" Malfoy looked like he was going to choke. He appeared to have a battle with himself for a moment before he blurted out, "Blonde." He gasped for breath then looked at Hermione apologetically.

"Just as I thought. Veritaserum. I'm going to kill Fred and George. They're stealing potions." Hermione looked livid. When she actually began to stand, Draco grabbed her hand.

"At least we get to be alone. You can deal with them later." Hermione sat down again, closer to Draco. She picked out a sandwich, peanut butter and honey, her favorite. With a simple wave of her wand, she vanished the cup full of contaminated pumpkin juice and brought out another cup. She and Draco spent the next hour sitting on the blanket in each other's arms talking about everything from their childhoods to their futures. After an hour, during their argument about polyjuice potion being taught in school, Hermione rose.

"They'll realize that I've disappeared. Viktor will have finished his afternoon lessons and will be looking for me." Draco pouted.

"You're just using that as an excuse to leave because you know that I'm right and we should be taught to brew it and recognize its effects."

"1. No, we should not be taught how to make it, that would enable people to misuse it. 2. Of course we should learn about its effects, but we don't need to use it. 3. I really should go. Pansy will be looking for you as well."

"Ok, but this discussion isn't over. I'll prove that I'm right if it's the last thing I do." He stood and pecked her cheek.

"You just keep thinking that. Owl me when you want to meet again. You can sign the letters X so nobody knows whom they're from, and address them to H."

"Sounds brilliant." The two walked out of the Room of Requirement and went their separate ways.

Everyone has a secret

But can they keep it

Oh no they can't

**Well, here it is. I hope you liked it. Please Review. And check out my other story **_**He Shalt Not Have Died in Vain**_**.**

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	4. Two Angry Women

**A/N: I know this chapter is late. I'm really sorry. I've been busy and its exams and I totally forgot to post this. But it's up now. No harm, no foul. This chapter contains a very angry Ginny and a very angry Ginny often uses choice words. Warning for strong language.**

**Disclaimer: I'm still awaiting a reply from J.K. on the topic of Harry Potter rights. Rest assured that when I get them, the world will know.**

Once the door had disappeared, they released Ginny. She turned on them. As usual when she was mad, her hair took on a life of its own. It flew out behind her and all around her face. She looked like her head was on fire and the venomous flames looked just as dangerous as Fred and George knew she was when she was like this.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU TWO THINKING? HOW CAN YOU LEAVE HER IN THERE WITH A FUCKING SLYTHERIN? YOU TWO ARE GOING TO GET HER KILLED. HE'S PROBABLY CALLING HIS FUCKING DEATH EATER FRIENDS RIGHT NOW, JUST BECAUSE HE TELLS US SOME BULLSHIT STORY ABOUT…" Ginny screamed. Her temper had flared and she was more vicious than she had been that morning. Had Fred and George not learned by spending so many years with their mom, the entire school very well could have known the secret.

"His story wasn't bullshit," Fred replied simply.

"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW?" Ginny demanded.

"We aren't stupid, Ginny, we put veritaserum in his drink. Now shut up or the entire school is going to know that Hermione Granger had a date with Draco Malfoy."

"You put veritaserum in his drink?" Ginny asked quietly. Her hair calmed down and so did her temper. The twins nodded. "Well good thinking. How did you get it?"

"We made it, of course. Professor Snape may not recognize our superior potions skill but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. So does this mean that we shouldn't be worried about you cursing us for endangering Hermione?"

"I'm still thinking about it," said Ginny reaching into her robe for her wand. Unable to find it, she searched her other pockets. "Oh shit, I can't find my wand."

"Watch your language, young lady, and your wand is right here. We took it as a precaution."

"Give it back," Ginny said. She lunged for her wand playfully, only to have it lifted out of her reach. She jumped but when that didn't work, she settled for tickling Fred so that he lowered his hands to shield himself. Ginny grabbed her wand and pointed it towards the window. She muttered a spell or two and several snowballs came flying in. They smashed themselves into the twins.

"Oi, Gin, call off the snow." But Ginny had already flounced out of sight through the common room door.

Ginny was sitting in the common room watching Harry and Ron play wizard chess with a mock interest. She looked up expectantly when Hermione walked in. "Where are Fred and George? I need to speak to them." Harry and Ron looked up, slightly confused.

"I think they're upstairs. Come on, we can check their dorm." Ginny replied. She led Hermione upstairs. To her surprise, Ginny didn't say anything on the way up. She was focusing all of her energy on praying that Lee Jordan was in the room so Hermione couldn't go off on the twins. There was no such luck. Just as Ginny raised her hand to knock on the door, Lee came out. He muttered a greeting and hurried downstairs. George stepped outside.

"Afternoon ladies, just give Fred one minute, he's clearing up." The girls doubted that Fred was clearing up simply so the room was suitable for them. Sure enough when George took them into the room, it was a pigsty. A curtain hid a third of the room. George cleared four chairs. "Sit, make yourselves comfortable." When everyone was sitting, he said, "Now, Hermione, I'm sure you've figured it out."

"What were you thinking, spiking his damn drink with veritaserum. Where did you get it? You must have stolen it from Snape. What are you thinking? Don't you know that he is going to realize that one of his most difficult potions is gone? And if he suspects you, what are you going to do? Are you two crazy? What…" Hermione shot question after question out at the twins.

"Hermione, if you don't pause, we can't answer." Fred said, interrupting her rant. "We'll answer each question if you don't interrupt. One, we were thinking that if we spiked his drink, he wouldn't be able to lie. And that worked pretty well."

"Two, we…" George stopped and looked at Fred. If Hermione knew that they had made the potion, she would freak. Fred nodded. He was thinking the same thing. "We'll skip two for now. Three has already been answered. Four, if a potion was missing; we would be more worried about Snape. Five is irrelevant. Six, maybe, just a little. But there's nothing wrong with being a little crazy."

"What do you mean if a potion was missing? If a potion isn't missing, where did you get it?"

"We're back to question two. Don't freak out. We made the potion. That's how." If Hermione was angry before, her new attitude could be classified as a nuclear explosion.

"YOU MADE IT? HE COULD HAVE DIED. THAT POTION IS ONE OF THE BLOODY HARDEST POTIONS TO MAKE. NOT EVEN THE MOST ADVANCED NEWT STUDENTS TRY TO MAKE IT. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING. HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED IF SOMETHING HAD GONE WRONG?"

"Relax, we said don't freak out. We knew nothing would go wrong because we tested a small amount on his drunk house-elf."

"YOU DID WHAT? IS THAT HOW YOU KNEW ABOUT US? YOU GAVE HIS HOUSE-ELF A TRUTH POTION? YOU COULD GET HER FIRED. SHE WOULD BE DISTRAUGHT. HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO INHUMANE?" Hermione wasn't just worried about Squeaky. She worried about Draco's parents using the same technique to get information.

"Relax Hermione, we couldn't get anything more than what she let slip to the other house-elves. Veritaserum doesn't work when the creature is to busy punishing itself to answer your questions. The point is, it didn't drop dead so the potion must be working."

"I can't believe you were willing to sacrifice a poor house-elf for your stupid experiments! You're lucky that she didn't die! I should hex you two into oblivion right now!" Hermione had calmed down a bit, knowing that the potion wouldn't work but she was still upset.

"Hermione, the point is, she didn't die and now we all know that Draco isn't going to hurt you. The two of you can be alone."

"Hermione, they were just doing it because they cared." Ginny said. Everyone jumped. They had forgotten that Ginny was in the room.

"I guess."

"So does that mean you won't hex them into oblivion?"

"I won't."

"Good, you can have your wand back then."

"Ginevra Weasley, you stole her wand? You've stunk to our level?" Fred gasped.

"I did what was best for all of us. It would be hard to explain why Hermione landed you two in the Hospital Wing."

"Gin, give it back. I promise I won't hex them." Ginny returned the wand. She kept her own wand out, ready to cast a shield charm. There was an awkward silence between them all for a few moments. Ginny sighed.

"Well, come on Hermione, Harry and Ron will be wanting an explanation and we won't want to keep them from hearing about how Fred and George turned your hair blue and mine green this morning."

"How will we explain the fact that it is no longer blue and green?"

"A clever transfiguration spell. And this," Ginny pulled Hermione's hair out of the ponytail from this morning, grabbed a strand that would be concealed when her hair was pulled back, and turned it blue. She did the same with hers, except she turned it green. "We can say that these strands wouldn't come out."

Sure enough, as soon as they sat down, Harry looked up. "Hermione, what on earth did Fred and George do that made you so mad?"

"After Ginny and I left, they cornered us. They transfigured our hair so mine was blue and Ginny's was green. We can't get this last chunk out." As much as they tried to hide it, Harry and Ron found this incredibly funny.

"They did? What did you do to them up there? Please say they're being attacked by giant bat bogeys." Harry said, trying to keep his laughter in. Harry's statement broke Ron's control.

"Bat bogeys? Ha! Did you get them, Gin? Poor blokes." This was all Ron could say. Harry had lost control and they both were laughing so hard they were struggling to stay in their chairs. Ginny and Hermione joined in. When everyone was under control, Harry and Ron finished their game of wizard chess; Ron beat Harry soundly, as always. The four played exploding snap until dinner, by which time Hermione had almost forgotten about Draco.

**So, how was it? Let me know. The more reviews I get, the more I write, the more I write, the more gets published. Then we all win.**


	5. Some Questions are Better Off Unasked

**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine**

Draco waited until Hermione was out of site to leave. He turned to the tapestry and began to make his way down to the common room. As he went, he thought. He could still smell her perfume, the mango orange smell that surrounded her. He couldn't quite remember what had kept her away from him for all of this time. In fact, it was all he could do to stop himself from running back upstairs into her arms again. When he reached the common room, he paused, collecting himself. The act he had to put on for the other Slytherins was complex and he couldn't slip up. When he was ready, he emerged from the tapestry. "Rattlesnake," he said. The portrait swung open. Draco turned to the fourth year area of the common room. Theodore and Blaise were playing Wizards Chess while Gregory and Vincent sat looking at the portrait hole, as though waiting for someone to enter. As Draco approached, all four boys rose in order to show respect. Draco took his regular seat at the top of the table. He nodded to Theodore, allowing him to be seated. When he took his seat, Draco nodded to Blaise, then to Gregory and Vincent. Theodore and Blaise continued on with their game. Draco studied them with mock interest for a while before glancing at the other two. As usual, Gregory and Vincent sat, waiting for Draco to speak. Draco fought the urge to laugh. _Imbeciles, don't they have minds of their own? At least Theo and Blaise can entertain themselves. _Hoping to avoid their stares, Draco opened the book he had been given for Christmas. He read until Gregory and Vincent slunk off to their remedial potions.

"So where were you last night and all of this morning? Don't think we don't realize when you don't come back." Blaise asked. He wouldn't ask the question in front of Gregory and Vincent because he knew he was more likely to get an answer this way.

"And don't give us any crap about being with Pansy. We saw her come in last night and she was looking for you this morning." Theodore added.

"Please, I don't have to answer to you two. My whereabouts are none of your business." Draco said. "Do either of you have a problem with that?" He asked with such force neither of the boys would dare answer yes. Sure enough, they shook their heads. "I thought so. Now, I must be off. I have some business to take care of. As well as a girlfriend to see." The three boys rose. Draco gave the other two a curt nod and they copied. He turned off.

"So do you think the girl was from Durmstrang or from Beauxbatons?" Theodore asked.

"I don't even want to know. Pansy deserves so much better then that. I just wish the two of us could have some chance at a future rather then her being stuck with a man like Draco who is just going to run off every time he sees something he likes better." Blaise replied

"Careful what you say around here. Remember, you never know who might be listening."

Blaise nodded, "I know." He buried his head in his hands. "Merlin damn it, this sucks. She's so focused on being perfectly loyal to him. I just wish that once, he would be grateful for it, rather then spending all of his spare time fucking some half-veelas."

"I know mate, but really, you can't talk about it. You never know who might be listening. Come on; let's get out of here. I need some help with that essay Moody assigned and the library seems like a perfect place to do it."

As soon as the portrait shut, Pansy Parkinson emerged from behind the girls' door, tears filling her eyes. Sure, she had always thought of Draco as a brother. She knew very well that their pairing was their parents' plan. Still, she didn't fancy the idea of him chasing half-veelas and doing who knows what else. Of course, she expected nothing less when she cut him off. After dating through all of third year and a quarter of fourth, they both realized that they were better off as friends. Unfortunately, not dating was not an option their parent's offered. As a result, they put on a show. For a couple weeks after their break up, they tried being "friends with benefits." Then, Pansy realized that concept wasn't going to work. Draco had accepted her wishes and they agreed to not sleep with or see anyone else. Pansy knew Draco would violate the agreement eventually, but she had hoped he would have held on to it for at least a month. And the least he could have done was not ditch her the night of the Yule Ball for some Beauxbatons bitch. Maybe she should have allowed Blaise to take her out to coffee. Nobody had to know. Draco couldn't mind of course, without being a filthy hypocrite. She would think about it.

**A/N: Sorry, this is a such a short chapter. My interest in this story is rapidly dwindling. I just don't feel like there is any interest in it at all. Please review, it makes me smile. There will be more Draco and Hermione in the next chapter.**


	6. Proper Practices of Proper Purebloods

**A/N: Don't hate me, I was out of town with no internet access all of last week and this week. I'm sorry I couldn't update.**

**From now on, I'm not putting in a disclaimer unless my status of Harry Potter ownership changes. Please don't sue.**

Draco pecked Pansy on the cheek as he sat down beside her for dinner. "Where were you today? I've been looking all over," said Pansy. Of course, normally she wouldn't care but she wanted Draco to remember their agreement not to see anyone.

"I'm sorry dear, I had a lot of work to do. You don't mind, do you? I really wish I could have spent the entire day with you," Draco said smoothly. _ I hope she isn't upset I blew her off all day, but of course, she knows how I feel._

_Bullshit Draco. I wonder if the "work" he had to do has anything to do with the Ravenclaw table he keeps glancing at. _"That's quite alright. I understand. Of course, if you aren't to busy tonight, I would love to get together," she said suggestively.

"Of course, anything for you darling. I have a late Christmas present to give you. It just arrived this morning." Draco said, oblivious to her playful hints. Pansy rolled her eyes. _Boys._ Then she saw Blaise. He had noticed her suggestive comment. He had a stricken look on his face but looked away when he saw Pansy glancing his way. He suddenly became very interested in his food. Apparently Draco had followed Pansy's gaze. However, all it did was remind him of his dinner. "Vincent, I need more pudding," he drawled. Crabbe moved to fill this order so quickly; he knocked Pansy's water over. "You clumsy dumb-arse. Look what you did," exclaimed Draco angrily when the water splattered all over Pansy and himself. _Moron. I should have served myself, like I did at lunch. I hate this stupid act. I have to keep it up though; Blaise and Theo already know something is up._ "Pansy, babe, I'm sorry about this idiot. Why don't you go get changed and I'll meet you back in the common room."

"Alright," she replied and she left. Millicent Bulestrone and Daphne Greengrass followed her out. Draco dried himself off and finished his pudding without saying another word to the other boys.

"I'm going to need our dorm tonight. I have a private party." Draco said when he had finished. The other boys stood and nodded to him as he left. Draco followed the normal path to the Slytherin common room just long enough to ensure nobody was watching before he doubled back to the tapestry of George von Rheticus. **(a/n: this is the portrait shortcut to the Room of Requirement in the Order of the Phoenix video game. I changed it to a tapestry because it is more convenient.)**

Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way downstairs for dinner slightly early. Apparently exploding snap took a lot out of the boys and made them starving. Ginny and Hermione laughed quietly behind them as the boys bounded down the stairs. When Hermione and Ginny reached the hall, Ron and Harry were already seated and piling food onto their plates. "Honestly, slow down. All the food isn't going to disappear in the next fifteen minutes." Hermione said, exasperated.

"Sorry Mione," Ron said, as food flew out of his mouth.

"Merlin Ronald! You are such a pig," Ginny exclaimed. Ron merely rolled his eyes and went back to his food. After a few minutes, Ginny nudged Hermione. Draco Malfoy had entered the hall. He caught Hermione's eye but quickly turned away. She did the same. However, even as she spoke with Ginny, she watched Draco out of the corner of her eyes.

"Ms Granger?" a timid voice said from behind her. Hermione turned around to see it was little Dennis Crevey.

"Dennis, you can call me Hermione."

"Hermione then. This is for you." He handed her a note and scurried off.

_H,_

_I've figured out a way to send the letters without actually using an owl. Meet me in the tapestry after dinner._

_X_

Hermione showed the note to Ginny who smiled and nodded at her. "Fhat fuzz fhat fabout?" asked Ron, potatoes spewing from his mouth.

"Honestly, Ronald. Swallow before you speak!" exclaimed Ginny.

"Sorry," muttered Ron. "But what was that about, Mione?"

"Oh, it was nothing. Dennis just had to ask me something he was too embarrassed to ask in front of everyone."

"What?" Harry inquired.

"He was too shy to ask in front of you, why would I betray his trust like that?" Hermione said. It had come out harsher then she had desired. Ginny nudged her. Draco was leaving. "I'll see you to in the common room!" She shouted and with that, she got up and left the table.

"What was that about?" Harry asked. Ron just shrugged.

"Talk about blowing things out of proportion." He replied, and then he went back to his food.

Hermione stalked down the corridors. Of course she was really angry, but she thought it would be the best emotion to keep people away. When she got to the tapestry, she said loud enough for the first years heading her way to hear, "If I find anyone following me into this passageway, I promise, I will hex them into oblivion!"

Draco smirked. He heard Hermione's threat from where he was standing in the passageway. "Hello darling," he said as she appeared.

"Draco." She replied, pecking him on the cheek. "Why did you need to see me?"

"I have a plan. I've set it up so Dennis Creevey will deliver the letters to you from a secret hole in a bookshelf on the second floor. A Slytherin first year is going to place the letters in there for me. You can also give Dennis letters you wish to send."

"How can we keep them from telling anyone what they're doing?" asked Hermione.

"That is quite simple, my prestige among the Slytherins, along with my threatening demeanor will keep the Slytherin boy quiet. And as for Dennis, I'm paying him for his services. And he doesn't know who I am anyway."

Hermione looked at him for a moment before nodding. It sounded like a good plan. "But how do I explain the frequent visits by Dennis Creevey?" Draco shrugged, unsure of how she could explain that. For a moment, Hermione looked thoughtful. Then she exclaimed, "Of course. Charms." Draco looked at her questioningly. "Professor Flitwick asked me to tutor a first year. Dennis was one of the kids who needed help. I can set something up with him and it gives us an excuse to talk."

"That sounds perfect," Draco said. He kissed her swiftly on the cheek and left the passageway.

"Draco!" Pansy exclaimed when he came through the portrait hole. "We need to talk."

"I know. Come on, my room should be empty." Draco led her upstairs. When the door was secured, he turned to her. She was staring at him scathingly. "Pans, I…"

"Don't call me that!" Pansy yelled. "We had an agreement. Neither of us would date because it's too dangerous. And you can't even keep that agreement for a month! What the hell Draco?"

"I'm sorry, it's just, I've been searching for this girl for months, and now she's here. At Hogwarts, right in front of me."

"FOR MONTHS? DRACO XAVIER MALFOY WE ONLY BROKE UP TWO MONTHS AGO! HOW LONG BEFORE THAT WERE YOU INTERESTED IN OTHER GIRLS? FOR MERLIN'S SAKE DRACO, YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST HAD THE DECENCY TO TELL ME THAT THIS WASN'T GOING ANYWHERE."

"Pansy, I'm sorry. The truth is, I've never been truly into this relationship. You know you're like a sister to me. I just didn't want to risk telling you before I did."

"I know that. I just don't know if I can forgive you for this one."

"I didn't do anything wrong. I never cheated on you. We aren't dating right now. You don't need to know my every move."

Pansy didn't speak for a while. She simply glared at him. Draco felt like he could have melted under that glare. When Pansy finally did speak, her voice was low and the tone was dangerous. "So you really think you didn't do anything wrong?"

Draco matched her expression and her tone. "No, I don't."

"SO THE FACT THAT YOU FUCKING LEFT ME AFTER THE DANCE LAST NIGHT AND DIDN'T FUCKING REAPPEAR UNTIL NOON TODAY AND THEN YOU FUCKING LEFT AGAIN AND WEREN'T TO BE SEEN UNTIL DINNER ISN'T WRONG? WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THAT I HAVE TO FUCKING EXPLAIN TO ALL THE GIRLS IN MY DORM WHY I DIDN'T SPEND THE ENTIRE FUCKING NIGHT WITH YOU? OR THE FACT THAT MY BOYFRIEND DISAPPEARS AFTER A DANCE WHEN EVEN FUCKING MUDBLOOD GRANGER SPENDS THE ENTIRE FUCKING NIGHT OFF IN SOME FUCKING MAGICAL PLACE WITH FUCKING VIKTOR KRUM?"

"I'm sorry Pansy, I wasn't thinking."

"No, you weren't." She spat.

"I have something. My mother sent it over, to give to you for Christmas. It's a family heirloom. I'm supposed to give it to the one I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with." Draco pulled a box out of his pocket. Pansy opened it and gasped. Inside was a large heart shaped emerald set in white gold. In the middle of the gem, there was an M formed out of black diamonds. On either side of the emerald heart were three smaller diamond hearts. "My father gave this to my mother when they were in fourth year. Now, it's yours."

"Draco. I can't take this. This is for someone you really love. We both know I'm not that person." She pushed the necklace back into his hand.

"Pansy, you have to take it. Our parents think we love each other. This is part of that game. Take it." He pressed the necklace into her palm. She hesitated for a minute before moving to place it around her neck.

"Help me?" She asked Draco. He obliged, taking the necklace out of her hands. She lifted her hair and he secured the clasp. She gasped slightly as the cold chain pressed against her neck and the hard pendant hit her chest. It was heavier then most of her jewelry. She smiled at Draco. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, we've been in here for about 20 minutes. If you leave before an hour, everyone will be suspicious. So, I don't know." Draco replied.

Pansy blew a stray piece of her out of her face. "This is going to be harder than we thought. Isn't it? How are we supposed to entertain ourselves on all of these 'dates'?"

"Homework, read, I don't know Pansy, but what choice do we have?" Draco snapped as he picked up his Charms book and started on the reading he had put off. He gestured to the scattered books around the room indicating that Pansy should read one.

"You're right. I know you're right. So who's this amazing girl you've been searching for all of your life?" She asked.

"You don't know her, Pans, and even if you did, I wouldn't tell you. You know that." Draco responded in a bored voice, not even bothering to look up.

"Fine," Pansy said, exasperated. She picked up a book. "_The Proper Practices of the Proper Pureblood_, riveting stuff here, Draco." When he just shrugged, she sighed and started reading his book.

**A/N: I've now published all of my prewritten chapters. This means my update schedule is going to change. It is also my last month in the lovely country of Australia before going home to the USA. This means two things: 1) I'm going to be busy this last month and 2) I'm not going to have as much time as I have had to write when I get home and have to be serious about school. My update schedule will pretty much depend on my inspiration. That's where you all come in. Review= Inspiration (Just saying)**


	7. Jealousy Part 1: The Second Task

The next two months flew by for Hermione and Draco. Between classes, homework, and their fake dating, they barely had time to see each other. However, they made a point to have dinner together at least once a week. That is, until now. It was the week before the second task. Hermione had been so busy worrying about Harry that she had spent every waking moment in the library with him and Ron for the past two weeks.

"Granger!" Draco said, grabbing her by the arm after Arithmancy one afternoon.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione demanded. _Why is he talking to me in public? This could ruin everything. How could he be so stupid?_

Draco hesitated. Several of the people still in the classroom had turned to watch. Blaise and Theodore were waiting for him, looking at him in wonder. _Crap. Maybe this wasn't sure a good idea. What do I do now? I knew I should have just given that kid the note for her. The note! That's it._ "Tut tut, where are your manners, mudblood. Never speak to superiors like that. I was just going to tell you, you dropped this." He pulled the note out of his pocket. "What is it? A love letter from Krum? Let's read it out loud, shall we?" Draco moved to open it but it zoomed out of his hand into Hermione's."

"You should to keep your nose out of other people's business, ferret." Hermione said coolly before leaving the room. When she was out of sight of the room, she slipped under a tapestry into the passage that would lead her to the library. She opened the note, fuming about Draco's word choice in Arithmancy.

_We need to talk. Our room, now._

Hermione sighed. She wanted to get to the library. Harry still had no idea how to breathe under water and it was getting to late to learn a spell. Before she could make up her mind, Draco entered the passageway. "Hermione, I'm sorry, that was stupid."

"Really, Draco? You could have ruined everything. And you just had to call me a mudblood." She spat the last word. "What do you want?"

"To spend time with you. I miss you, Hermione. And I'm sorry about that word. Blaise and Theo were already suspicious."

"Well you shouldn't have tried that. And we will spend time together, after the task. I have to help Harry and unless you know how he can breathe underwater for an hour, I have to go." She kissed his cheek and left for the library.

* * *

Hermione hadn't been at breakfast. Of course neither had Ron or Harry, but Draco didn't care about those two. As he made his way down to the second task, he couldn't help but glance over at the Gryffindors. He counted one, two, three red heads. But Hermione and Ron were nowhere to be found.

"Dray? Draco? DRACO?" Draco had been so distracted he didn't hear Pansy calling out his name.

"Huh? What?" He replied, looking at her. She didn't answer. She was glaring off into the distance, obviously trying to figure out who Draco had been looking for.

"Where do you reckon Potter is?" Blaise asked. "He isn't down by the lake with the other champions."

"What? Weird." Draco muttered, distracted again.

"Maybe he chickened out. I bet he couldn't even figure out what the task is." Theo said, with a laugh. Draco chuckled halfheartedly. Where was Hermione?

"Draco? What's up with you today?" Blaise demanded. But Draco was saved from replying by the crowd's sudden cheers. Harry had arrived.

"Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions. They have one hour to retrieve it from the bottom of the lake or it will be lost forever. Begin." Ludo Bagman declared. The champions preformed their spells and dove into the lake. Draco's mind was racing. _Something was stolen from the champions. But what? And where was Hermione? Unless… No, it couldn't be. Not even that old bat Dumbledore could do something so dangerous._

"What is Potter doing?" Blaise laughed, bringing Draco from his thoughts. Draco looked around. Harry was wading into the lake. "How stupid can he be. He's just making a fool out of himself." Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly at this remark.

"I bet he's so stupid he couldn't think of anything to do. Now stupid Potter is going to loose his stupid thingy." Goyle said. He looked proud of himself as Crabbe laughed. Draco just ignored him. He was searching the crowd again. _One red-head. Two, three. But where was the other Weasel? Why would Hermione and Weasel both miss the task? _Bagman was talking now, entertaining the crowd. Draco continued his scanning. Suddenly, the crowd was gasping and pointing to the lake. An unconscious Fleur Delacour was being pulled out of the water by two mermen. Dumbledore and Madame Maxime conversed with them quietly while Madam Pomfrey took Fleur to the hospital tent.

"It appears Miss Delacour had a slight problem with the grindylows and was forced to retire from this task," Bagman said, "Now, as I was saying, a hag and a vampire were sitting in a bar…" Draco didn't hear the rest of the joke. He glanced at his watch; they were thirty minutes into the competition. He searched the crowd again, as if hoping Hermione had magically appeared while he was distracted. When he didn't find her, he turned to Blaise and Theodore and tried to look interested as they speculated about the treasures stolen from the contestants. After another half an hour, the crowd was pointing at the lake and chatting excitedly. Cedric Diggory had emerged from the water and with him he brought Cho Chang. "Ah yes, Mr. Diggory, it appears is the first one to successfully retrieve his hostage. Something he would dearly miss." Bagman cocked his head at the surprised reaction he got from the crowd. "Why are you all so shocked at this?" He asked, confused. McGonagall went over and whispered something to him. "Did I?" She nodded. "Ladies and gentleman, it appears I forgot to explain our situation to you. Mermaids are holding a person each contestant would miss very much hostage today." There was more to Bagman's explanation but Draco did not want to hear it.

_The thing Potty would miss most is Hermione. That's going to upset Weasel. Wait, if Potty's hostage is Hermione, where is Weasel? Unless, Hermione isn't Potty's hostage. Maybe, Weasel is and Hermione is Viktor Krum's._ Draco shook his head it couldn't be possible. However, just as the thought filled his mind, the water rippled again and out came Krum, pulling Hermione along with him.

**A/N: I know, I'm terrible. Writer's Block sucks and I haven't had much time to write, attempting to fully enjoy the rest of Australia. Anyway, I don't really like this chapter. But it was necessary filler for what happens next. Please review even though I stink. They help me get through this horrible writers block.**


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